| If you sell advertising on your website, you have to get | | | | The question is which ones to use on your website. |
| the ad mix right. We take a look at which banner | | | | Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but |
| formats you should use on your website. | | | | overall it's better to use the style that will best suit your |
| We've all seen banner adverts on websites. In fact | | | | visitor profile. |
| banners have been around for almost as long as the | | | | Remember, dynamic or more animated ads tend to |
| websites themselves. | | | | come across as just that - ads. Very few people are |
| In the mid 1990's online advertising was just taking off | | | | actually going to click on something they see as a |
| and at that time nobody really expected the banner | | | | blatant advert unless it really pushes all the right |
| format to be such a powerful promotional tool. | | | | buttons for them. |
| The fact is that banner adverts do work for both the | | | | There is a fair amount of research to suggest that too |
| advertiser and publisher. However, it is up to media | | | | many bright colors or flashing animations on a business |
| sellers to get the mix right if they are to generate a | | | | to business website can distract from the overall |
| decent level of revenue from them. | | | | image and presentation, which can make people less |
| Banner adverts come in two main types: dynamic and | | | | likely to buy the product or accept the information |
| static. Dynamic ads are generally created in Flash or | | | | shown as being of a credible nature. When you are |
| GIF formats and tend to use images, text and highly | | | | working on the structure of your website you always |
| animated contrasts of colour to create a big impact. | | | | want ads to fit in with the look and feel of your site. |
| Their designis more often used on consumer based | | | | Imagine ads to be the rockery or borders in your |
| websites, where the idea is to either get people to click | | | | garden rather than the weeds! |
| quickly, or get them to view more detailed animations | | | | Some prefer static banner ads because they don't |
| for branding purposes. | | | | distract the visitors attention away from the material |
| Static banner ads are the opposite. They tend to be | | | | on the page. The reason for this is that the human eye |
| just a single image or slogan and a subtle call to action | | | | is naturally drawn to motion and bright contrasts of |
| or line of text. These are mainly used on business | | | | color. It doesn't matter how informative the page |
| websites and often blend in well with the colour | | | | content is, the reader's eye will probably stray to the |
| scheme orsurrounding environment of the site. | | | | top of the page to look at the ad whenever its |
| Both formats will usually link directly to a website or | | | | animation loops over. |
| landing page from the advertiser and the main | | | | Overall, when deciding on whether to use static or |
| objective is to get people to click on them. However, | | | | dynamic banner ads on your website, keep in mind |
| as previously mentioned some animated designs are | | | | what you're trying to accomplish with your site and |
| more about telling a story and building an identity. | | | | take a long hard look at the kind of visitors your site |
| When advertisers use sophisticated animations to tell a | | | | attracts. |
| story or get a more detailed message across to the | | | | If you are going to keep them hooked, your text and |
| visitor, they tend to be aimed at people have a little | | | | ad content should reflect the tone and main |
| more time to view this material. If you look at any | | | | requirements of your audience. Your long-term |
| consumer motor sport website, you'll see this technique | | | | business success may just depend on it. |
| used regularly. | | | | |